GEORGE W. BENSCOTER
Page 592
GEORGE W. BENSCOTER
Page 592
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GEORGE W. BENSCOTER. Since coming to Mason County this gentleman has succeeded in bringing to a high state of cultivation his property on section 22, Pennsylvania Township. At the time of purchase, the tract was wholly unimproved, and with an ox-team he broke the sod preparatory to planting grain and raising the first crop on the place. At the present time he is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres, and has recently sold an eighty-acre tract to one of his sons. The farm presents an attractive appearance, with its commodious residence, erected at a cost of $1,000, its barns and granaries built at a cost of $1,200, and its forty-acre fields separated from each other by fences of hedge and wire. The entire farm is enclosed by a neat hedge fence. The father of our subject, Isaac Benscoter, was born in Muhlenburg, Luzerne County, Pa., and was a farmer by occupation. In Union Township, Luzerne County, in 1815, he married Christina, daughter of William Bellas, who was born in that county about 1780, and was for a number of years engaged in the hotel business. Removing later to Columbia County, Pa., he made a brief sojourn there, and then settled on a farm where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, at the age of eighty or more years. The parents of our subject continued to reside in Luzerne County until their death. Their family numbered eleven children, four of whom are living: George W.; Joseph, a resident of Union Township, Luzerne County, who married Miss Susan Moore, becoming by that union the father of five children; Alexander, of Mason City, Ill., whose union with Catherine Hontz resulted in the birth of six children; and Stewart, a farmer of Ross Township, Luzerne County, Pa., who married Esther Rood, and has one child. Born in Union Township, Luzerne County, Pa., January 21, 1819, the subject of this sketch remained with his parents until he was sixteen, when he began to work in a sawmill. There for two years he filled the position of a foreman. The mill conducted an extensive business, and among its other contracts supplied the Hazelton & Lehigh Railroads with timber for its construction. At the age of eighteen he went to Wilkes Barre, Pa., and became an empoye of the Wilkes Barre & White Haven Railroad Company, but after a short time thus spent he returned home and resumed farming. Mr. Benscoter married Miss Hulda Wandel October 28, 1841; she was born in Luzerne County December 6, 1822, being a daughter of George and Margaret (Moss) Wandel. Her father, who was a farmer by occupation, died in Mason County, Ill., in 1856. Her paternal grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier. After his marriage Mr. Benscoter purchased on hundred acres in Pennsylvania, upon which he built a house at a cost of $200, the timber and lumber for which were prepared in a mill on his father's farm. For twelve years he remained upon that place, after which, in 1853, he came to Illinois, and rented a farm near Lease's Grove, in Mason County. One year later he came to his present property, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres, to which he has since added by purchase. In connection with the raising of cereals, he makes a specialty of stock-raising, and has ten brood sows of the Poland-China breed, forty-nine young pigs and seventeen ready for market. Mr. and Mrs. Benscoter are the parents of twelve children, eight of whom are now living: Jasper, of Mason City; Headey Laudinier, a resident of Coffeeville, Kan.; Minor, who lives in Allen's Grove Township, this county; A. Byron, who assists his father in the management of the home farm; Harrison Rush, whose home is in Ross Township, Luzerne County, Pa.; Frances, who married John Earhart, has five children and lives in Allen's Grove Township; Mary F., who resides with her parents; and Amy J., the wife of W. A. Mehan, of Mason City, and the mother of one child. The children received excellent educational advantages, and Mary F., after completing the course in the district school, attended the high school in Mason City. Afterward she taught school for eighteen years, and during sixteen years of that time had charge of schools so near home that she was able to drive back and forth each day. In his political preferences Mr. Benscoter is a loyal Democrat, and always supports the principles of that party. For four years he served as Assessor, and for two years filled the position of Collector. He has for years been interested in educational maters, and has served as School Treasurer for fifteen years, also as Director for ten years. On the 28th of October, 1841, Mr. and Mrs. Benscoter celebrated their golden wedding day, upon which eventful occasion a host of warn personal friends assembled to offer their congratulations to the estimable couple standing on the "golden" landing in life's rugged stairway. A large pavilion was constructed to accommodate the guests at supper, and nearly three hundred partook of the bounteous feast. After supper the gray beards recounted with much fervor reminiscences of fifty years ago, while the young, though in a manner somewhat different, found equal enjoyment in the fast-fleeting hours. Numerous souvenirs were left with Mr. and Mrs. Benscoter as tokens of remembrance and love. With truth it may be said that no residents of Mason County are better or more favorably known than they. They were married in Pennsylvania, and moved to this community nearly fifty years ago. As pioneers, they did much to reclaim the broad prairies from the wilderness and as substantial citizens they have added much to the general welfare of the county. Throughout their long lives they have had the same experiences that are common to all, and have gathered about them, as they stand facing the setting sun, a host of personal friends who wish them many years of continued activity. |